“Insurance data” is a strange term, because anything can be insurance data. Everything is insurable, so insurance data potentially covers everything in the universe. Of course, there's plenty of data which is specific to insurance, like rates, premiums, and coverages.
What about “health data”? Thorin Klosowski, writing on Lifehacker, says this term could also by widely applicable. Building a picture of someone's habits from their location data could tell you whether, say, they are a smoker. Just as anything is potentially insurance data, anything could be health data.
But let's go wide on this. Any data can potentially be useful for any industry. This is a fundamental law of the smart age.
How do we react to this law? If, as consumers, we refuse to share our data, we miss out on value added services. If we're asked to authorize every use of our data, we'll get irritated and confused. If we let all our data go free, we leave ourselves vulnerable.
I believe the answer lies in two dimensions: relationships and offers. On the relationships side, I might trust a brand to handle all my data with integrity and, to coin a phrase, “do no evil”. On the offers side, I might be happy to respond to targeted offers rather than ads. That is, I get some real value from a timely and relevant communication, rather than just a suggestion as to where I direct my custom. Life Hacker
Comments